“I’m leaving you, Phillis. I’m leaving you and taking everything. You can get buried with that fucking trash you decided to cheat on me with!” my father yelled so loudly that I could hear him down the hall. My father didn’t raise his voice. Not ever.
I cracked my bedroom door to make out what he was saying. My parents getting divorced wasn’t the be-all or end-all. Most of my friends came from broken homes. It was almost fashionable in our circles. My parents were one of the few couples still together. The Prices were the exception, not the rule.
“You can’t do that to me. I gave you twenty years of my life. That entitles me to half of everything. You wouldn’t risk that!” my mother yelled back. “What did you expect, Miller? You were always on those business trips, and if you were home, you were locked up working in your office. The only person you gave a second of your time to was Devlynn. I just wanted to be seen.”
“I saw you. I was working day and night to keep you in the life you were accustomed to. Let me tell you something, sweetheart… That little piece of paper you signed before we got married, the prenup, states that you would end up with nothing if you cheated. You think I’m going to give you a cent after what you did? It’s not like you have anything in your name. You were a nobody from nowhere when I met you. I should have listened to my mother when she said you were a white trash whore. It’s not bad enough that you couldn’t close your legs, but you had to fuck my lawyer… our daughter’s boyfriend’s father? What kind of piece of shit does that? So now, I’m going to leave you alone, penniless, and miserable.”
I heard a slap and my father’s shoes on the marble floor, followed by my mother’s sobbing. My father’s last words hit me the hardest. My mother was having an affair with Elis’s father. My legs gave way as I collapsed to the ground. I sat on the floor for hours in shock. Confused. Angry. Hurt. All I wanted was Elis, but he wanted nothing to do with me, and I couldn’t blame him.
I stumbled to my phone and texted Elis again.
Devlynn:I know what happened. Please talk to me.
I sat on my bed, staring at my phone, willing a message to pop up, but nothing. I crawled into a fetal position, cradling my cell phone. I didn’t want to miss Elis if he tried to contact me. I tried to sleep. I closed my eyes and willed it. But my whole world was crumbling around me, and the only person I wanted to see was avoiding me.
At three in the morning, I finally heard a ping. My fingers fumbled with the phone, and I dropped it several times before I studied it in my hand.
Elis:I can’t do this. It’s over.
Chapter 15
Elis
“Hands up, you little fucker!” They drew their weapons at the same time I heard the words.
Two police officers with handguns and their eyes on me.
I broke into a sprint, tossing the near-empty can of paint into the nearest trash can, and bolted down a slim alleyway. I slipped between two buildings, leaped on top of a garbage dumpster, and prepared to launch myself across the fence when a baton landed on my ankle. The sound of crushing bones filled my ears.
Fuck. This is it.
“Little fucking punk. You the guy we been lookin’ for?”
I didn’t say a word, training my eyes on the ground as they handcuffed me and ducked me into the back of a cop car. My eyes were fixed on the water-streaked windows outside, and my heart sank when the cops started the engine and turned toward uptown.
I’d been tagging walls obsessively for the last few nights around the park, but off Fifth too. I’d spent some time in the East Village and Washington Square, but tonight was my riskiest move. Tonight, I’d tackled Wall Street.
Wall Street…my dad… All the excess it’d come to represent had culminated in my attempt to tag a window of the New York Stock Exchange—an amateur move.
By the time we reached the station, and I was tagged and booked and offered my first call, I did the only thing I could think to do. I called the woman who’d been there for me through everything.
Mom.
But she didn’t answer, and the officer cackled when I passed the phone back through the window. Then, I waited, annoyed at myself most of all. I curled up with the thin wool blanket, my head on the painted concrete bench, and planned my next move.
A cold voice rattled me from my sleep. “Brooks.”
“Yeah?” I shot up, instantly on alert, when I realized I was still behind bars. From Park Avenue prince to criminal.
“Someone made bail. You’re out for tonight. Don’t miss your hearing tomorrow morning, or your ass will be right back with me tomorrow night.”
I huffed, nailing him with a glare when the door swung wide, and he swept his fat arm to his side to gesture me out.
“Nothing but a rich little punk,” he gritted as I passed him.
“I’m not rich,” I seethed, my fist twitching with the need to show him how wrong he was. I pushed open the bulletproof doors and found myself at the front of the station.
“Elis?” I heard her voice before I saw her.